In a victory for tribal law enforcement, a federal appeals court
last week barred a county sheriff from imposing state law on
a tribe's police force even when those officers leave the reservation.

According to the state vehicle code, the use of emergency light bars is
limited to "authorized emergency vehicles" performing emergency services.
For several years, the sheriff in Riverside County has been using this
law against the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians.

The Cabazon Reservation is composed of four non-contiguous
sections, so tribal police officers must travel on
non-reservation roads to get from one area to another.
But whenever they did so using emergency lights, they were
stopped and cited by the county for violating the state law.

In response, the tribal police were forced to remove the
lights every time they left the reservation.
The chief of the tribe's
public safety department said this practice
posed a danger to the officers and limited their ability
to carry out their duties.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed in a decision released
on November 3. Describing the removal of the lights as a
"preposterous and time-consuming ritual," a panel of three judges
held that the state law was "discriminatory" towards tribes because no other
government is treated the same.

"It is clear that the challenged vehicle code sections do
not treat the tribe’s police force the same as other law
enforcement entities within California," Judge Harry Pregerson
wrote for the majority. "California permits all
state, county, and city law enforcement officials within the
state to display and to use emergency light bars."

The decision overturned a federal judge's ruling that
went in favor of the county. It also reversed a split May 2001
opinion from the 9th Circuit that said the tribe was subject
to the state law.

The tribe sought a rehearing, as is common when a court is
divided on an issue. In the meantime, the tribe entered
into a deputization agreement with the Bureau of Indian
Affairs that granted federal commissions to every tribal
officer who met the requirements.

The agreement was key to the tribe's case. It led the California
Highway Patrol to conclude the federal commissions meant the
police officers are allowed to use their emergency lights
off the reservation.

But the county balked and argued that the tribe's use of
emergency lights would cause traffic, safety and other
problems. The 9th Circuit rejected all of the county's
arguments.

The court went further and embraced a view that
tribal law enforcement is not absolutely limited by the boundaries
of a reservation. In a Public Law 280 state like
California, the holding appears to be landmark.

"Every law enforcement jurisdiction shares the same obligation
and purpose: to protect and to serve their respective communities
and citizens," the court said. "We agree with the BIA that the
boundaries of Indian Country should not impede tribal officers’
travel, use of marked vehicles, emergency response, or
other aspects of their policing authority necessary to meet the
officers’ law enforcement obligations to their reservation
community."

Over the years, law enforcement officials in California have clashed
with tribes over the reach of state law on the reservation.
In a highly-publicized incident that went all the way to the U.S.
Supreme Court, the sheriff in Inyo County raided a tribe's
casino and used bolt-cutters to seize records.